


cherries with a pinch of salt

by melondrops (daybreakfiction)



Series: pieces of us [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Idk what i'm doing, M/M, Papa Kun, This isnt good, and the triplets, lots of family time, of course, was supposed to be a one shot but im splitting it up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-25 17:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19750081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daybreakfiction/pseuds/melondrops
Summary: johnny and kun, through the eyes of xiaojun.sequel tostrawberries!





	1. ten years old

**Author's Note:**

> hello!  
> i highly recommend reading the [main fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18667276/chapters/44269696) and the [prequel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18966235) for this series, since it may be hard to understand unless you read that. 
> 
> if you don't want to read it, thats all good! here's a recap.  
> \- kun's adopted triplets are xiaojun, hendery, and yangyang. they used to live in singapore but after some family issues they had to move to china. sicheng and yuta are married, but sicheng was disowned and now lives in japan.  
> \- main fic has two possible endings, this particular fic takes place in the ending in which renjun chooses to stay with his family, which meant he left korea and jeno. as per in the main fic, he did come back to jeno.  
> \- in the other ending of the fic, kun does end up with someone else. johnkun only happens in the "bad" ending.  
> \- the title is what i was eating when i started writing this fic hehe  
> \- johnny and kun previously met at the wedding ceremony of sicheng and yuta.. xiaojun was a lil cautious around him at first 
> 
> this is a very long beginning note i am sorry

Xiaojun wasn’t sure who exactly he was expecting when he opened the front door of his home. His father told him to never open the door to strangers, but at ten years old, he thought his father was worried over nothing. 

Again, Xiaojun wasn’t sure who he was expecting, but he definitely wasn’t expecting to see Johnny, his father’s friend, standing in the doorway with a wide smile on his face. 

Just as the man was about to speak, Xiaojun shut the door in his face.

“Papa!” Xiaojun yelled, running as fast as his legs would allow towards his  father’s office. 

His father was sitting at his desk with his glasses perched upon his nose. Xiaojun always thought his father looked smart with his glasses on, but he also looked old. His father just raised an eyebrow, shifting his attention from his laptop towards his son.

“Johnny is here. Why is Johnny here? Did you invite him here? Why is he here?” Xiaojun questioned, speaking quickly as he approached his father.

“Johnny is here already? I thought I told him to call me when he arrived at the airport...” His father mumbled, completely ignoring Xiaojun’s question. His father just stood up from his desk and made his way over to the front door, with Xiaojun following close behind him.

Their movements seemed to have caught the attention of  Hendery and Yangyang, who then joined them by the front door. Their father opened the door, revealing the tall Korean man that they had met (again) in Japan, just a few months ago. Johnny let out what seemed like a sigh of relief at the sight of the father of the triplets and he said something in Korean, which Xiaojun could not understand.

Yangyang let out a scream of joy when Johnny entered the house and even  Hendery looked excited. Xiaojun couldn’t help but think his brothers were traitors. 

“What are you doing  here?”  Yangyang asked, excitement clear in his voice. He was automatically attached to Johnny, holding onto his arm to lead him further into the house.

“I’m on vacation for a bit and decided to stop by. I’ll be here for a week.” Johnny explained, smiling down at Yangyang.

Xiaojun stared at Johnny before thinking back to when they had first met in Japan. 

There was something going on between Johnny and his father. Xiaojun never forgot the way his father changed whenever Johnny was around and he could never forget how his father smiled. He had watched the entire time they had danced together during the reception and he saw how happy his father was. 

“Oh, is this why you were preparing the guest room, papa?”  Hendery asked, speaking softly in Mandarin to their father.

“That’s right. I knew Johnny was coming and wanted it to be a surprise.” Their father smiled, leading everyone to the living room. He and Johnny said a few words to each other before he went ahead and took Johnny’s luggage from him, bringing it up the stairs towards the direction of the guest room. Johnny took a seat on one of the couches and just smiled at the triplets.

Their home had five bedrooms in total, along with a spacious living room and dining room. The triplets all had their own rooms, but they spent most of their time together in the living room where they could watch television and play games.

Once their father had gone up the stairs, Xiaojun stared at Johnny for a moment, taking in his appearance. It had only been a few months since he had last seen him, so Johnny looked the same as always. 

“Do you like papa?” Xiaojun asked, crossing his arms to look as intimidating as possible. His Uncle Lucas did this whenever he was bargaining with clients and it seemed like a good tactic. 

Xiaojun thought it was weird when Johnny’s face suddenly turned pink at the question, but the man answered nonetheless, “Of course I like him. He’s my friend.” 

“I think Xiaojun is asking if you  _ like  _ _ like _ him. Do you want to kiss papa?”  Yangyang asked, looking at Johnny with wide eyes. He was seated next to Johnny on the couch while  Hendery and Xiaojun were together on the other couch.

“W-Wait, hold on.” Johnny held a hand up to the triplets, the blush still on his face. He let out a cough and cleared his throat, pausing for a few  seconds  as if he was thinking about what to say.

“You do!”  Hendery exclaimed, standing from his  seat. Xiaojun cringed at how loud the middle triplet was before pulling him back to the couch, elbowing him in the process to shut him up. 

“If you guys are uncomfortable with me liking your dad, just let me know.” Johnny said softly, looking at each triplet for a moment.

Yangyang blinked and tilted his head to the side, “Why would we be uncomfortable? You’re nice to papa and I think he likes you too.” 

Hendery nodded at the youngest triplet’s statement. Xiaojun hesitated before he did the same. Johnny let out a sigh of relief and just smiled at the triplets, before leaning back on the couch. Just then, the father of the triplets started to make his way down the staircase to return to the living room.  Yangyang grinned when Johnny say up straight on the couch, fixing his composure in a matter of seconds. 

Xiaojun was impressed with how his father could speak in Korean so easily now, compared to a few months ago. He wondered how he had been able to practice to become so good at the language. He stared at his father as he talked to Johnny about something that he could not understand.

“Boys, we’re going out for dinner with Johnny, okay? Go get your jackets and shoes.” Their father said, forcing the triplets to stand up from their seats to get ready to leave.

As he was walking away to get his jacket, Xiaojun turned back to glance at his father and Johnny who were still in the living room. His father had that same smile on his face, the one Xiaojun first saw in Japan, and Johnny’s own smile mirrored it as well. He saw his father walk closer to Johnny before offering him a hand to help him stand from the couch. 

Xiaojun knew Johnny was capable of standing from the couch by himself, but Johnny still took his father’s hand. Their hands lingered together for a few seconds before they slowly pulled apart. Xiaojun then looked away, scrunching his nose at the affection that was just oozing from his father. 

He wondered how long his father and Johnny would act like this before they would realize that they felt the same way about each other.


	2. eleven years old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay another update! 
> 
> idk what else to say but thank you to those that left kudos and left a comment :)  
> the triplets r growing up :^(

“ Yangyang !  Hendery ! Please don’t run around the pool like that!” 

Xiaojun glared at his brothers who were causing a commotion by the pool.  Hendery had tried to push  Yangyang into the hot tub and now the youngest triplet was trying to push  Hendery into the pool. They were on summer vacation, so they decided to go visit Korea for the first time. They had already met their Uncle  Renjun and Uncle Jeno in the morning and  they wanted to spend the rest of their afternoon at their hotel. 

The younger triplets decided that they wanted to go swimming and that was how they all ended up at the pool. Xiaojun, despite the fact that he was not going to swim, was wearing swimming trunks that were identical to the swimming trunks  to those  of his younger brothers, which was a bit embarrassing for the eleven-year-old. Their father said no one would notice, nor care. 

“Yangyang, you forgot your goggles in the hotel room.” Another voice called out, speaking Mandarin slowly. Xiaojun looked up from his seat on one of the lounge chairs by the pool and saw Johnny holding his youngest brother’s goggles. He was also dressed to go swimming and Xiaojun nearly puked at how his father could not keep his eyes off of Johnny’s bare upper body. It was gross.

At the moment, his father and Johnny were in some sort of weird relationship. His father had said that they weren’t exactly dating and nothing was official, but they spent a lot of time together. Xiaojun knew that his father would often have long phone calls with Johnny as he worked in his office. Johnny would visit China once every few months as well. However, neither of them had the confidence to ask the other out, which was annoying to Xiaojun (also annoying to his Uncle Renjun, who kept trying to give his father a pep talk to get him to ask out Johnny). Johnny had even been learning Mandarin in the last year, so that he would be able to talk with the triplets more. The triplets, in turn, had also been taking a few Korean lessons as well.

Xiaojun was hoping that things would change while they were in Korea, but everything seemed to be the same so far.

“Are you going to swim, Xiaojun?” Johnny said as he took a seat on the lounge chair next to Xiaojun. The two other triplets were already in the water, making laps around the pool. They were the only ones at the pool, so they didn’t have to worry about bothering anyone.

Xiaojun shook his head at Johnny’s question, “I don’t swim.” 

That seemed to have caught his father’s attention and he was by his side within seconds.

“Do you want to try to dip your feet in the water, Xiaojun? I’ll be right beside you if you want.”  Xiaojun rolled his eyes at his father’s insistence but just shook his head, laying back in the lounge chair to soak up the sun. He closed his eyes to fully shut everyone else out. Xiaojun heard his father let out a sigh, but he was determined to stay out of the water. 

Ever since his accident when he was four-years-old, Xiaojun had a fear of water. 

His brothers were able to swim at a young age, since their father insisted that they take swimming lessons. However, Xiaojun would never join them. During the swimming lessons, when his brothers were in the water with their instructor, Xiaojun would be sitting right next to his father on a nearby bench where other parents were waiting.

As they got older and went on vacations, their father would try to get all three triplets to swim together, but Xiaojun would always throw a fit and stay out of the water.  Hendery and  Yangyang seemed to understand from an early age that their oldest brother would never get into the water, so they never pressured him to. 

Xiaojun opened his eyes to the sound of water splashing and saw that  Hendery and  Yangyang were taking turns jumping into the pool. They were both capable swimmers and never had any trouble when swimming in the deep end. He was almost jealous of them.

“Hey.” Xiaojun saw that Johnny was still seated in the lounge chair next to him. He had a strange look on his face, as if he was thinking about something important.

“ Do you want to sit with me on the ledge? We can just have our feet in the water.” Johnny asked, even though he heard Xiaojun tell his father that he wasn’t going into the water. Xiaojun shook his head, trying to glare at Johnny but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

Johnny just sighed, “Listen, I’ll be with you the entire time. You can even climb onto my back if you want.” 

Again, Xiaojun shook his head, adamant on not getting into the pool. The young boy looked off to the side, spotting his father sitting on another lounge chair on the other side of the pool to be closer to where the younger triplets were. His father was just smiling happily at  Hendery and  Yangyang while they played in the pool. Xiaojun was almost jealous of how his brothers could enjoy themselves so easily. He looked back over at Johnny, who was still by his side even though Xiaojun had declined his invitation to swim.  


“ If I say yes, c an you teach me how to swim, Johnny? So that I get over my fear of water?” Xiaojun found himself asking, though he wasn’t sure why he had asked.

Johnny grinned and nodded his head, standing from his seat on the lounge chair. Xiaojun did the same, but as he and Johnny walked towards the pool, Xiaojun felt goosebumps form on his skin. The Korean man led him over to the ledge that was on the shallow end of the pool, where Xiaojun could see the stairs that led further down into the pool.

The older man stepped onto the first step, which showed Xiaojun that the water was not deep yet, only to Johnny’s ankle. Then, the man stepped down onto the next step and the water reached just below his knee. Johnny kept taking more steps until he was nearly waist deep in the pool, which meant that the water would be chest level for Xiaojun. 

As he stayed on the dry ledge of the pool, Xiaojun felt himself start to regret the decision to try to enter the pool.

“Come here, Xiaojun.” Johnny extended his hand over to the eleven-year-old for him to hold. Xiaojun stared at his hand for a moment, still hesitating as he shifted his attention over to the water in the pool.

Johnny just smiled, “I got you, Xiaojun. Don’t worry.”

The oldest triplet took a deep breath and reached for Johnny’s hand, taking his first step into water.  He let out a shaky sigh as he brought his other foot into the water. It felt strange, stepping into a pool for the first time in years. This felt different than taking a bath or taking a shower. He felt vulnerable, but Johnny squeezed his hand and offered his other for Xiaojun to hold as well. The young boy took Johnny’s hand, taking one more step into the water.

While this was all happening, Xiaojun failed to notice his father staring over at him with wide eyes.


	3. twelve years old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another update this weeeeeeek
> 
> thank you again to those that left a comment! and left a kudo!  
> i'll try to reply to them soon hehe

Xiaojun had never seen his father as stressed as he was now. He had overheard him talking on the phone with one of the investors of the company his father was now in charge of. Something had happened within the company and his father was rushing to figure things out. 

“Xiaojun, I know you’re standing there. Do you want to come in?” Xiaojun heard his father call his name, so he carefully opened the door to his father’s office and took a step inside. 

He rarely came into his father’s office, mainly because he had no reason to. It was a small room with a large desk in the center of it. When he stepped inside, Xiaojun was facing his father, but his eyes shifted over to the bookshelves behind his father. There were many books lined up on the shelves. His father could read in Mandarin, Korean, and English and had quite the collection of books in all of those languages.

The twelve-year-old’s attention was caught by a framed picture on one the shelves of the bookshelf. It was a picture of his father, him, and his brothers at a party they had attended a few months ago. However, in this picture, there was also a fifth figure that was standing next to Yangyang. 

Johnny had finally got the courage to ask out his father after their Uncle Sicheng and Uncle Renjun decided to meddle. Uncle Sicheng told Johnny that the father of the triplets was getting asked out on multiple dates (which was true, but he did not accept any invitations) by business people that he was working with. 

The triplets were all there when Johnny clumsily asked out their father. He even had a bouquet of roses to give to their father, who accepted them with a bright pink face. Needless to say, the triplets were grossed out, but happy that their father was finally dating Johnny. 

“Are you doing okay, papa?” Xiaojun asked, walking closer to his father’s desk. He could see many papers spread out across the table. His father’s laptop was set up as well, but Xiaojun not to stare at it for too long. He couldn’t understand his father’s work anyways. 

His father smiled, but the young boy could see right through the fake smile, “I’m fine, Xiaojun. What are you doing still doing awake?” 

Xiaojun glanced at the clock hanging on the wall to his right and saw that it was nearly midnight. He liked to sleep early and would normally never even be awake after eleven in the evening. 

“You were thinking too loud. I couldn’t sleep.” Xiaojun reasoned, even though he knew what he said made no sense at all. His father let out a soft chuckle before motioning his hand towards him, to which Xiaojun responded by walking over to his father. 

Xiaojun stood silent as his father wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Xiaojun let his father hug him, hearing him let out a sigh of relief before pressing a kiss to the top of Xiaojun’s head. 

“I’ll go to sleep now, papa. Don’t spend too much time here.” Xiaojun said once his father let him go. He stared into his father’s eyes and frowned at the sight of them. His eyes were normally bright and happy, but now Xiaojun could see that his father was growing more and more exhausted. 

“Goodnight, son.” 

Xiaojun left the room with careful steps and once he closed the office door behind him, he ran to his room as fast as possible. 

He grabbed his phone, which was a present from his father and Johnny on his twelfth birthday. He and his younger brothers all got the same phone and the only way to differentiate the phones at a glance were the phone cases that they used. Xiaojun used a protective case that was simple and black, Hendery used a case that was covered in stickers that he had received from Johnny, and Yangyang used a clear case and had a picture of their Uncle Sicheng’s cat in the back of the case. 

Xiaojun unlocked his phone and sent a quick message to Johnny in the chat they started when Xiaojun first received the phone. 

**Xiaojun** : johnny, are you going to be coming back to china soon? 

A few moments later, Xiaojun received his reply. He was lucky there wasn’t a huge time difference between Korea and China. 

**Johnny** : Hey Jun! I have a match tomorrow and I should be coming back in about three days. Is there something wrong? 

Johnny had also sent an emoji, a thinking face emoji, along with a picture of a worried cat. Xiaojun stared at the screen, disliking the fact that Johnny already had “dad humor” despite the fact that he wasn’t a father. Yet. 

**Xiaojun** : papa has been acting really weird and he’s been stressed out about work lately. he looks like he hasn’t slept in days either.   
**Johnny:** I’ll talk to him, don’t worry. Get to sleep now bub! I know it’s late there and you have school tomorrow.   
**Xiaojun:** okay, see you in a few days johnny! goodnight   
**Johnny:** Goodnight, Jun. 

Xiaojun climbed under his blanket and let out a sigh at the realization that Johnny wasn’t going to be able to help until he got back to China. There was nothing he could do to help his father, who kept all business to himself. He wondered if he should ask Uncle Lucas to help him out, but he was on a business trip in Canada, so he was even farther than Johnny was. 

He couldn’t let himself dwell on these thoughts, especially when he had to wake up to go to school in a few hours. The young boy then fell asleep within a few minutes, unaware of what would happen to his father. 

… 

The next morning, Xiaojun woke up to the sounds of voices yelling. He rubbed his eyes, hearing the voices yelling in a mix of Korean and Mandarin. As he climbed out of bed, he also heard his brothers leaving their rooms as well. 

The triplets gathered together in the hallway, all obviously woken by the sounds of whoever was yelling. 

“It sounds like papa and Johnny...” Yangyang mumbled, letting out a yawn as Hendery rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Xiaojun made the mistake of staring at his youngest brother as he yawned, which then led to Xiaojun yawning as well. Moments later, Hendery also let out a yawn, thanks to Xiaojun. 

“Johnny shouldn’t be here though. He has a match in Korea and you know he wouldn’t miss that.” Xiaojun answered, remembering the conversation he had with Johnny. 

The triplets then decided to go downstairs together to figure out who was yelling. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen, so they quickly ran over to the room. Yangyang let out a gasp when he saw his father wrapped up in someone else’s arms. 

“Yangyang, can you go get your papa's phone for me? I need to call his secretary.” It was Johnny that had the triplet’s father in his arms. Their father looked like he had fallen asleep, even though they had all heard him talking just moments ago. Yangyang nodded and quickly went to search for his father's phone.

Hendery walked forward and started up at Johnny, “What happened to papa?” 

“He fell asleep due to exhaustion. I was able to catch him in time before he hit the floor though.” Johnny replied, then picking up their father with ease. Xiaojun watched as Johnny carried their father over to the living room, where he carefully set him down on the couch. 

Yangyang then returned holding their father's phone out to Johnny. The Korean man took the phone and unlocked it with his own fingerprint, before scrolling through their father's contacts to find his secretary's number. He dialed it and once she had answered, he spoke in both Mandarin and English to let her know that the father of the triplets was not going to be able to come to work.

“I’m going to bring your dad over to his room, but you three need to get ready for school. I’ll be bringing you to school today.” Johnny said as he picked up the sleeping man from the couch. Xiaojun could hear his father start to snore, which meant he was in deep sleep. 

The triplets all nodded their heads and returned to their rooms as Johnny brought their father upstairs, to his room. The triplets were now all old enough to get ready by themselves, so Johnny didn’t have to worry about helping them out at all. Once Xiaojun had his school uniform on, he walked over to the hallway that led to the master bedroom of the house, watching as Johnny tucked his father into bed. 

“Xiaojun, what do you want for breakfast?” Johnny asked softly as he walked out of the master bedroom, shutting the down behind him carefully. He placed his hand on top of Xiaojun’s head and smiled at the Chinese boy. 

“Why did you come to China so soon? I thought you had a match today.” Xiaojun asked, completely ignoring Johnny’s own question. 

Johnny’s smile widened, “Your dad and his health are more important than a football game. Now let’s go have some breakfast.” 

Johnny then offered his hand for Xiaojun to hold. They walked down the stairs together and saw that Hendery and Yangyang were already at the table in the dining room, waiting to eat breakfast. 

“I hope you kids like a Korean breakfast! Because that’s all I can cook.” 

Yangyang and Hendery cheered at the mention of food and Xiaojun just took a seat at the table. He was still surprised that Johnny had made it to China in just a few hours. He wondered if Johnny had bought a plane ticket right after they had talked last night. Hopefully his team would be able to win their match without their main goalkeeper around. 

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me!! also any kudos and/or comments would be nice ♡
> 
> [new twt](https://twitter.com/hrenjuns00)  
> [new cc](https://curiouscat.me/melondrops00)


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